A Truly Musical Library

It’s common knowledge that modern libraries have outgrown the outdated perception of merely being austere book warehouses, manned by humorless enforcers of silence, and at the Chattanooga Public Library’s downtown location, there’s even a space where people are encouraged to make as much sound as they want: The Studio.

The Studio, which opened one year ago, features a professional recording environment with three live rooms, an ample supply of microphones and gear, and a main control room with a 24-track mixing board and an Apple Mac Pro running the industry-standard recording software Pro Tools, and it’s available for anyone who has a library card and is at least 12 years old.

In February, The Studio began its Open Studio program, offering three-hour blocks of time to library patrons who are guided by the Studio Instructor/Engineer Charles Allison, and The Studio isn’t strictly just for musicians.

“We’ve had people use the space for podcasts, creating jingles for their podcasts, voice-over work and scoring film,” said Meredith Levine, Head of Youth Services and manager of The Studio, via email. “With the plethora of plug-ins we have, we can support creatives of all kinds.”

Allison has over twenty years of recording experience, beginning with home recordings on a reel-to-reel 4-track recorder before eventually going into the digital realm and being a full-time professional engineer, running his own Spanner Sound studio for several years; Allison’s history as a musician includes a project called Kil Howlie Day and the quartet Land Camera, and he’s currently the front man of the rock group Okinawa.

“One of the challenges of my job is making sure that everyone has the resources they need to record in The Studio wherever they may fall on the continuum of experience,” said Allison, via email.

“We have had teens, young adults and seniors all use the space,” said Levine. “The level of experience is just as wide of a range: people who have never walked in a studio before to artists who have studios themselves.”

“The library has built an amazing facility that has already shown its wide impact on the community, and it’s my job to make sure that everyone has a fair shot at using it to its fullest potential,” said Allison.

Unlike a typical commercial studio, The Studio has an emphasis on learning, which means that the musicians themselves are expected to engineer their session and set up equipment with Allison acting as a guide, and The Studio also offers a variety of educational opportunities that are open to the public.

“Our programming partners, Dynamo Studios, provide five-to-six classes per week for library patrons,” said Levine. “This includes Beat Making and Digital Music, Full Session Recording, Mixing and Post Production and so on.”

“We are currently working on funding to build out the storage for the Instrument Lending Library that we will be teaming up with Chattanooga Girls Rock on,” said Levine, about the local day camp that leads girls through writing songs and performing live.

“We hope to apply for future grants to create an editing classroom with a set of computers, Pro Tools, etc. so people can work on post-production at the library and still keep The Studio open for recording,” said Levine. “We hope to develop circulating podcasting kits, so people can check those out and record their podcasts from home.”

One of Allison’s favorite projects at The Studio has been with two brothers who recently moved from Haiti and use the studio to record their vocals for album projects.

“They often will post their finished songs on YouTube shortly after being in The Studio, and it’s pretty cool to see the immediacy of the library studio,” said Allison. “But I love working with anyone who is on fire for their craft, or is excited about learning how to record and wants to make the most of their time in the studio.”

Regarding a favorite story involving The Studio, Levine recalled an amusing moment from ZineFest in May.

“Justin Savage, of Sonically Speaking, was in The Studio, and I was running the board,” said Levine. “He was interviewing ZineFest vendors for a podcast, and we have an open door policy in The Studio where when the door is open, people can come in and engage with whatever is happening in there at that moment.”

“I got a phone call and snuck into the other live room, and a 10-year-old ran in, opened the door in the middle of the interview and yelled, ‘Y’all having a meeting in here or something?’ and Justin immediately goes into interviewing the kid,” said Levine.

“It was such a perfect random moment that will not be edited out of the podcast. It is moments like that—the community engagement—that are so inspiring.”